2010 Winter Olympics preview: Mark Grimmette to carry the flag for a hopeful U.S. team

The Associated PressMark Grimmette, who participates in double luge, was chosen as the flagbearer for the U.S. team at Friday's opening ceremony. VANCOUVER, B.C. – A 39-year-old man with a receding hairline spoke Thursday of discovering his life's purpose as a teenager, when heavy machinery invaded his neighborhood park.

"It was some bulldozers tearing up my favorite sledding hill, and I asked them what they were doing," said Mark Grimmette, a five-time Olympian from Muskegon, Mich. "They said they were building a luge track."

Twenty-five years later, Grimmette's teammates elected him to carry the U.S. flag in tonight's 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony. He competes in doubles luge, a discipline that requires men to lie atop one another on tiny rudders going 95 miles per hour, in a sport so obscure it holds annual recruitment drives.

In an Olympic Games known so far for what's lacking – a healthy Lindsey Vonn; snow – examples abound of what's here: athletes, many in arcane sports that receive little attention between Games, buoyed by increased funding for training and thrilled to be here.

Apolo Anton Ohno, the soul-patched speed skater from Seattle, will carry his five-medal legacy to competition. Challenging him on the short track will be J.R. Celski, an 18-year-old from Federal Way, Wash., who was inspired to try the sport by watching Ohno in the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.

Three U.S. men will take the ice in figure skating, all ranked among the top nine in the world. Evan Lysacek is the favorite, having finished fourth in Turin, Italy, four years ago. Jeremy Abbott is the fresh-faced upstart, a 24-year-old surprise victor at the U.S. Championships.

Johnny Weir was fifth in Turin but ranks first in flamboyant, fur-trimmed costumes. If George W. Bush was the candidate you most wanted to drink a beer with, Weir is the man with whom you'd want to sip a peach daiquiri. Taking minor sports seriously

A U.S. effort to produce medals in lesser-known sports could produce fruit this month. The U.S. has contenders in cross-country skiing and biathlon, the Nordic-skiing-then-shooting event that's been largely ignored despite Americans' affection for guns. But the biggest breakthrough could come in the Nordic combined, the skiing-and-ski-jumping event in which the U.S. has never medaled.

Americans swept the three individual events at last year's world championships, a feat that Nordic combined athlete Billy Demong said sprouted from the U.S. team's decade-long investment in facilities, technicians and sport scientists.

"There's definitely a big shift in how many people are aware of our team and aware of our sport," Demong said.

One athlete on everyone's radar is Vonn, the 25-year-old two-time Alpine World Cup champion who was poised to dominate opponents and NBC's coverage of the Games. She said Wednesday that a deep bruise on her right shin might keep her from competing. By Thursday, she was saying the injury was better, but at the least her chances appear less than before.

Already boycotting the Games is snow, which has made only cameo appearances at Cypress Mountain, the West Vancouver venue that will host the snowboarding and freestyle skiing events.

While Olympic organizers truck in hundreds of loads of snow, Team Canada prepares its own trucks for the medals it plans to win. A seven-year effort called Own the Podium injected more than $100 million into Canada's Olympic training effort.

Canada has never won the most medals at a Winter Olympics. Even Michael Chambers, president of the Canadian Olympic Committee, acknowledged Thursday, "We admit, we all know, that this is a very ambitious objective." But Canadians have produced strong showings at world competitions and are projected to win 30 or more medals at the Games.

Snowboarders back in spotlight

With Vonn ailing, the U.S. hopes again ride on its snowboard team. The eight men's and women's halfpipe competitors held court at a news conference Thursday, proving that excellence and irreverence can coexist.

When asked how she was preparing to defend her gold medal from 2006, Hannah Teter responded: "I'm drinkin' a lot of Amp (energy drink), and they have McDonald's at the Athlete Village. So, hit that up every morning – NOT!"

Shaun White, the reigning men's halfpipe gold medalist, said he was retiring his "Flying Tomato" nickname in favor of "Animal," after the red-haired drummer from the Muppets. Scotty Lago turned to White and suggested "Red Zeppelin," which White dubbed, " a good one as well."

No matter what you call him, White will be uncorking his signature Double McTwist 1260: two head-over-heels flips with 3 1/2 rotations. He bonked his head violently on the trick at the X Games last month but said he will include the jump in his Olympic performance.

Risk-taking has become more common in the new 22-foot-wide Olympic halfpipe ("half-moon" in French), four feet wider than in previous Games. The wider pipe facilitates speed and, thus, higher jumps.

Many Olympians, however, are already flying. At a welcome ceremony near the Athletes Village on Thursday, a proud delegation cheered on the first-ever Pakistani athlete at the Winter Games: Alpine skier Mohammad Abbas. Members of the Slovakian women's hockey team danced and posed for photos with Quatchi and Miga, Sasquatch and sea bear characters.

At the waterfront Main Press Center, Grimmette recalled helping build that luge track at Muskegon State Park, then tried the sport and fell in love with it. He said that when he learned he would carry the flag in the opening ceremony, his hands began to shake. The spotlight rarely finds the luge.

"The hair is standing on the back of my neck," Grimmette said. "It's just a great honor."